It seems that Publishing (with a capital P) is in a bad way– layoffs, minimal advances and long release dates are the norm now, rather than the exception. Having this kind of insight through my connections with the extremely knowledgeable Andrea Hurst is disheartening as a writer and agent-in-training. But in some way, it is also freeing. My fiction is not written for mass-market consumption, and I am allowing myself more time to peruse the small presses and independent literary magazines to see where I might fit. I don’t worry about trying to get my first collection of fiction printed in its entirety; I don’t even consider it as a possibility. The time is not right. Instead, I work to refine, to hone down to the best images, the most meaningful language, and practice my craft.